


Elemental Prophecy

by Tarlan



Category: Riddick (2013), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Angst, Community: scifibigbang, M/M, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-13 14:55:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2154735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a year surviving on the world he had called Not-Furya, Riddick makes his way back to the Necromonger fleet, wanting revenge on those who had left him for dead on that hostile world. What he didn't expect was to find the main focus of his rage - Vaako - innocent of that crime against him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elemental Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taibhrigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Art for Tarlan's Elemental Prophecy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2154942) by [taibhrigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh). 



> I want to say a special thank you to **TAIBHRIGH** , who created the magnificent artwork for this story at very short notice, and did an amazing job! THANK YOU!
> 
> Please consider going to the ART LINK and leaving kudos/comments as they are so richly deserved.

_Riddick:_

Riddick didn't really know what to expect when they made him their leader but he figured out pretty quickly that most of the Necromonger elite did not want him there. They saw him as an abomination - illegitimate like his birth. Nothing new there. Yet they obeyed his every command, indulged his every whim without question. His days were long and dull, and the nights longer still as he rarely allowed himself the luxury of sleep. He was back in slam, one that came with a crown on his head, but that too came with a price. Too many wanted him gone. Some had already tried to make that happen, and he was forced to watch his back or risk ending up with a shiv between the fourth and fifth ribs.

He wanted a way out, but he also wanted answers to questions that had plagued him since he learned of the genocide surrounding his birth. Who was he? Where did he come from? Where was Furya?

Zhylaw had purged every mention of the planet from the records but Riddick was far smarter than most believed; others tended to mistake his laconic attitude for stupidity and he allowed them, aware that it gave him the element of surprise. Deep in the third shift, while the majority of Necromongers either slept or went into the purification chambers, Riddick checked the navigation charts for all the planet falls around the time when he believed he had been born. He made a mental note of their path of destruction, aware that the Necromongers were moving across the galaxy in a spiral pattern - for the most part - moving from star system to star system. Several possible candidates for Furya turned up - dead, unnamed systems or strange voids in the star maps.

He thought he had been discreet, keeping his investigation into Furya quiet but Vaako was more observant that most.

After yet another attempt on his life - this time from one of his fuck toys - Riddick learned that only one man might know where he could find Furya, and that knowledge was locked into the man's head from when he was but a boy on his first campaign. Looking at Vaako, Riddick found it hard to believe for Vaako looked no older than himself, and the Necromongers didn't keep anyone who wasn't old enough to survive conversion, pick up a weapon, and kill for their religion.

Looks could be deceiving though.

For all his commitment to his religion, and despite his viper of a wife, Vaako had always played straight with him despite having everything to gain and little to lose should he decide to kill Riddick. Yet, strangely, his First Among Commanders had not made any attempts on Riddick's life since kneeling down and proclaiming him to be the new Lord Marshal. If anything, he had been more patient and restrained than most, less demonstrative of his disdain for the outsider - the breeder - who had ascended to the throne of the Lord Marshal. He answered questions, and offered advice that Riddick didn't always heed.

And Riddick liked his attitude; the cutting edge of sarcasm and the razor sharp intelligence lurking behind his dark, pain-bruised eyes. The overall package was easy on the eyes too; tall, broad shouldered, muscular and agile, and handsome too.

He decided to play Vaako's game and take that smaller, faster ship to the set of coordinates offered up by Vaako. Furya.

That hadn't ended up so well for Riddick. Not that this was new. It was not the first time he'd been left for dead, and probably wouldn't be the last.

Slipping back onto the Basilica ship had been so easy. He navigated the less used corridors and knew where the shadows were darkest. He moved silently and killed anyone in his path, slowly making his way to the Lord Marshal's chambers but finding them empty. He had expected to find the cloying scent of Dame Vaako's perfume filling the room but the air seemed... musty. Disused. As if the room had remained sealed since he left it one year earlier.

"Interesting," he rumbled softly, slowly building a picture of events following his disappearance.

He reached Vaako's personal chambers, seeing the familiar possessions neatly stored and favorite weapons displayed upon a wall, but found barely a trace of _her_. He growled low in anger; a rumble of frustration at his quarry's elusiveness. Riddick's nostrils flared. Vaako's scent still filled the room, but what little of her scent remained was old and stale. Not that he cared about her - only Vaako.

He growled again at the memories of nights spent listening as Vaako preached to him, picturing the sardonically raised eyebrow and hearing the sarcastic timbre of his voice as he tried to educate his Lord Marshal in a religion of death. How many times had he turned his back on Vaako as he paced the war-room? How many times had he trusted him not to put a knife in his back?

Trust.

Riddick had spent this last year on... Not-Furya... wondering when he had gone soft, when he'd become civilized and placed his trust in a Necromonger. In Vaako. An entire year believing Vaako had taken advantage of that trust to be rid of him once and for all so he could gain control over the Necromongers for himself, sending Krone to do his dirty work. Though that didn't quite fit with what Vaako had taught him about his religion, that you keep what you kill. If that was truly the case then Krone would be Lord Marshal, or Krone would be dead.

From overheard conversations as he moved around the ship, Krone was neither, and Riddick sought him out next.

He found Krone on his knees facing a large portal, fervently repeating words a mantra; an incantation that Riddick recalled from those lessons.

Riddick pressed the knife against the back of Krone's head and asked a question consisting of a single word. "Vaako?"

The animal side of him enjoyed the way Krone stiffened in shock upon hearing his voice, and he offered Krone a small extension on his worthless life in return for betraying Vaako's whereabouts. After all, Krone was just Vaako's rabid dog and Riddick wanted the master, not his pet killer. He wanted to teach Vaako the true meaning of pain before giving him what every Necromonger worshiped: death.

"You misunderstand. Vaako is a decent man..."

This time it was Riddick who felt a ripple of shock because Krone had no reason to lie. Not about Vaako's part - or lack of a part - in Krone's attempt to kill him, which meant either Krone had lied to Vaako on his return, or Vaako was dead.

"...No place for a misbeliever or kind heart leading it." 

Shock transformed to silent fury for he had been the misbeliever but never a kind heart. That label could only have been meant for Vaako, for bowing down instead of slaying Riddick that day in the Necropolis. The possibility that Vaako was already dead hit Riddick like a heavy blow to the chest, stuttering his heart. He wanted to demand more information from Krone, and the man seemed more than willing to talk, but Riddick wasn't fooled. Krone would never tell him what he had done with Vaako, not even to crow... but the woman might.

"I have done what I have done-."

The knife slid in easily, halting Krone's words forever. Riddick shouldn't have given him such an easy way out but the way he saw it, it wasn't an honorable death. It wasn't met in due time so Krone wouldn't see his version of nirvana.

He turned to Krone's woman, observing the scars that marred an otherwise pretty face. Krone had placed his ownership upon her in a brutal way, and he used that as leverage, asking her a question but demanding a single word answer - Yes or No.

"Is Vaako alive or dead?"

She hesitated a moment, her eyes slowly filling with the kind of light that he'd seen reflected in many different eyes over the course of a lifetime; reverence.

"Both."

Her single, awe-filled word confirmed that Vaako was more than just the Lord Marshal now; he was a Holy Half-Dead like Zhylaw before him, like Riddick should have been if he'd listened to Vaako and let them put pain spikes in his neck. They had wanted him to fully commit to their religion - to become a true believer. He could have done it easy enough if he'd wanted to belong here. Pain was no stranger to him, but he absolutely believed in one particular God already, and wanted no part of Him.

Misbeliever.

Slowly Riddick walked to the portal and looked out across space to the Threshold, watching the colors swirl as the gravity tides tore at the very fabric of this universe. Ghost fingers in colors ranging from red and orange to blue and purple reached out into this 'verse, reflecting off the ships moving between the Basilica ship and the Threshold. He wasn't a well educated man but he had wanted to know what to expect when the Necromongers talked of this Threshold, reading the accounts of former Lord Marshals, including Zhylaw. It was a rip in time and space; a door to another universe where those who died in due time were supposedly reborn. Only a Lord Marshal and his intended heir were allowed to look beyond the Threshold. All others were supposed to cast their eyes aside until it was their due time.

If Vaako had crossed the Threshold, looking for transcendence, then the Necromongers must have proclaimed him their new Lord Marshal. None of this explained why Krone was gazing upon it too. Not unless he had intended to be Vaako's heir, chosen or not.

So now Riddick had more questions.

Why had it taken so long for them to put Vaako on the throne and to make this pilgrimage to the Threshold? What plans had Krone already put into motion to ensure no ' _kind heart_ ' would lead the next phase of the Necromonger campaign to end all life in this 'verse? And most important, why did he care so much what happened to Vaako?

He moved back towards the door, intending to slip away and find Vaako; it opened just as he reached it.

"Lord Krone, your ship is read-."

The Necromonger commander looked between Riddick and the corpse bleeding out on the floor, eyes wide in fear as he recognized his former Lord Marshal.

"Lord Riddick," he breathed out in shock, and Riddick gave a predatory smile as he grasped Commander Freyan by the front of his clothing and threw him across the room, closing the door before turning around.

The woman shrank back as Riddick moved across the room slowly, watching keenly as Freyan quickly regained his feet and squared up, standing firm. A tremor of fear betrayed him, just as it had betrayed Krone, and Riddick gave a predatory smile.

"Now tell me all about this ship... and where it's going."

_Vaako:_

The first duty of a new Lord Marshal was to journey to the Threshold.

They had already started on this journey after Riddick killed Zhylaw and became Lord Marshal, beginning the Seventh Regime.

The previous time the Necromonger fleet had come to the Threshold was after Lord Marshal Kryll had died under unusual circumstances by committing ritualistic suicide. Zhylaw had become Lord Marshal after a pyro-document naming him as successor was found beside the body. Accusations had overshadowed the start of Zhylaw's reign, and he had dealt swiftly with his accusers, hunting them down and sending them to untimely death once he was completely exonerated by Necromonger law.

Vaako was but a boy then, and he had watched in envy as Zhylaw took a small ship to cross the Threshold, seeking transcendence like Covu before him. The Necromongers left behind with the fleet could only imagine the beauty of this glimpse into UnderVerse, forced to turn their eyes away or risk meeting the same untimely and ignoble death as those accusers. Though curious to see what lay beyond this 'verse, his recent conversion had left him strong of mind and hard of resolve. However, others could not resist the temptation and they gazed upon the Threshold, hoping to see a glimpse of paradise.

Their bodies were hung from the spiked columns within the Necropolis as a warning to others, in untimely death. If he closed his eyes, Vaako could still recall the grotesque sight of their twisted bodies and the stench of their rotting flesh, and remember how Zhylaw had considered it to be the sweetest perfume.

This time it should have been Riddick gazing upon the Threshold's beauty and piloting the small ship into UnderVerse. Vaako was convinced that he would have persuaded Riddick to undertake purification long before they reached the Threshold, to quell the unrest within the elite who considered Riddick unfit to command them. He had intended to spend those months persuading Riddick to proclaim him as his successor so that he might accompany Riddick, fulfilling that boyhood dream. 

He had seen the way Riddick looked at him in unguarded moments. He had felt the growing trust between them, and the desire that had shifted from the beautiful but dangerous Dame Vaako to himself. Those cold, silver eyes would watch him when Riddick believed no one else was looking, with a hunger that he understood all too well, for he felt its echo in the strength of his desire for Riddick.

That was why he had given Riddick the coordinates for Furya. He had wanted Riddick to trust him - and to find closure on that aspect of his life. He had wanted Riddick to put the past firmly behind him and move forward... with him by his side.

Vaako took a deep breath as his small ship crossed the Threshold, eyes wide open so he would see everything revealed to him. He could feel something vibrating within him, to the very core of his being, and knew he was being transformed, becoming a Holy Half-Dead. Yet his thoughts circled back to Riddick and how they should have crossed the Threshold side by side.

What many of the Necromonger elite had not understood was that Riddick was no stranger to pain. They saw his refusal to undergo purification as a sign of weakness, believing he was a coward, afraid to commit to pain and to Necroism, but Vaako knew better than most how much pain Riddick could withstand. He knew how little Riddick feared its physical manifestation.

"He was a true warrior," he murmured softly, having wanted to say those words out loud before this day, but not in the company of others while he was still consolidating his position.

Vaako understood that what Riddick feared most was belonging. He had stood outside of the human race for so long that its social interactions, even those among Necromonger society, were almost foreign to him. He could fool almost every Necromonger, using his position of Lord Marshal as a shield to prevent them from getting too close and seeing the truth. Even the ones he took to his bed saw only the side of Riddick that he revealed to them. From the reports Vaako had gained from his spies amongst those courtesans, Riddick never closed his eyes when he lay down beside them, dressing once he had finished using their bodies, and ordering them from his bed chamber as soon as he tired of watching them.

He could fool almost everyone except his First Among Commanders.

Vaako had spent weeks studying the Furyan sitting upon the Necromonger throne. He could tell when Riddick had not slept in days, and when he had found safe ground to snatch at a few hours of respite. He knew when Riddick was interested in the history Vaako imparted to him, and when the subject bored him. A quirk of his lips told Vaako when he was amused, and a glint in his silvered eyes warned him when boredom was about to be relieved by mischief or anger.

Those eyes.

Vaako had seen their like only once before.

He had not lied to Riddick about being in the attack on Furya as a boy. What he had failed to mention was that it had taken two concerted attacks, thirteen years apart, for the Necromongers to fully eradicate all life from Furya.

Until learning of Zhylaw's secret, he thought that was the reason why Furya was erased from the records after the final destruction. He thought it was Zhylaw's attempt to hide the shame of failure on that first campaign, when the Necromongers had been driven off by the fierce Furyan warriors, though not before Zhylaw had managed to slaughter every woman and child they came across. Rumor had it that he had even cut babies from their mother's bellies and strangled the newborns with their own birth cords.

An Elemental's prophecy regarding Zhylaw had committed the Necromongers to that first attack, though Vaako did not learn of this until only a year ago. Aereon was that Elemental, and she had spoken to Zhylaw of a Furyan who would destroy him, bringing him to an untimely death before the end of the campaign. Though just a commander at the time of that attack on Furya, Zhylaw had ambitions of becoming the next Lord Marshal after Kryll. He had wanted his reign to see the end of all life in this 'verse, and to that end he had already persuaded many that he would lead the Necromongers into UnderVerse.

To fulfill the destiny he had designed for himself, he had to destroy the Elemental's prophecy, and in doing so, he built a formidable reputation for the killing of women, children, but mostly babies.

Kryll was the first to use the planetary conquest icon as a weapon, and he had ordered the destruction of Furya's main city, leaving scorched earth for thousands of miles in all directions. It was not enough to destroy the planet, and the Furyans spent the next thirteen years rebuilding a small army of warriors.

The second attack on Furya was Vaako's first campaign as a Necromonger, and Zhylaw's first as Lord Marshal.

he was but fifteen years old, but already tall and starting to broaden across the shoulders. The Necromongers had slaughtered his people a few weeks earlier but they had given him and his older brother a choice to convert or die. His brother had chosen the easy path - death - and now he was but a fading memory. Lost in a past that Vaako could never reclaim.

Vaako still dreamed of that first campaign and the ferocity of the silver-eyed warriors who had killed so many Necromongers that day. All of them had been male for Zhylaw's slaughter of all the woman and children had left no new generation. Overwhelming numbers had eventually worn them down until only one remained standing amid a pile of the dead and dying, covered in blood from head to toe. The stench and taste of death had filled the air but an eerie silence had descended, sending shivers through to the hearts of all those present. The Furyan's eyes had shined as if with hidden knowledge as he looked directly at Vaako, and he had grinned as a Necromonger battle ax finally took his head. It had rolled to Vaako's feet, gazing up at him as if he had wanted Vaako to be his last sight in this 'verse.

In Vaako's eyes, he had met a true warrior's death - in due time.

He had looked just like Riddick, and that memory had held Vaako mesmerized on Crematoria while he watched Riddick slaughter one of his men with every step taken towards him. Ferocious and beautiful, taking down twenty of Vaako's men as if they were nothing. Vaako had taken no pleasure in stepping forward to obey his orders to kill Riddick, raising his weapons only to falter as a violent wave of energy erupted from Riddick, and the rising sun had forced them all to flee before they met an untimely death.

When Riddick appeared in the Necropolis some days later, Vaako was relieved that he had not died beneath the fiery sun on Crematoria; it was too ignoble a death for such a magnificent warrior. However, his own fate was sealed from the moment Zhylaw realized that Riddick still lived, for Vaako had knelt before him and had accepted a reward - promotion to First Among Commanders - for proclaiming Riddick dead.

Vaako had hoped Riddick was strong enough to kill Zhylaw outright, but the Lord Marshal seemed to brush Riddick aside as if he was no more than an irritation buzzing about his head. It was always going to be an unfair fight though, for Zhylaw was a Holy Half-Dead. He bridged the gap between this Universe and UnderVerse, able to tear the soul of a man from his body.

"Never saw any man hold on so tight to his soul," Vaako murmured.

The woman - newly converted - had turned the tide of the fight, paying for her loyalty to Riddick with her life, and Vaako had known then that he might not get another chance. Zhylaw had already proved his weakness when he abandoned half the ground troops on Helion Prime. He was no longer fit to lead the Necromongers, and Vaako had grabbed a battle ax and jumped down to confront Zhylaw before another commander took this opportunity from him.

As he raised the ax, he was already imagining the mantle of leadership falling upon his shoulders. Instead, he saw the Elemental's prophecy fulfilled that day, shocked when his attempt to slay Zhylaw sent the cowardly former Lord Marshal straight under Riddick's blade; the same knife that Zhylaw had taken from Irgun's chest and handed to Riddick that day in the Council Chamber on Helion Prime.

Perhaps that was fated too.

Many believed that he had lost his nerve that day, that he had bowed down to Riddick rather than face the other warrior in single combat. The truth was far more dangerous because it touched on another, older prophecy that many might see as pure hubris on Vaako's part. Since Covu The Transcended, every Lord Marshal had sought the perfect warrior mate - an equal to sit beside him on the Necromonger throne - to fulfill another Elemental's prophecy that would bring a successful end to the Campaign and lead the Necromongers into UnderVerse. 

Kryll had tried to use this prophecy to his own advantage, and some speculated at Zhylaw's tribunal that Kryll's death was suspicious as it had come when Kryll had finally found a warrior who could potentially fulfill that prophecy.

Zhylaw had passed off Irgun as his 'soulmate', taking him to his bed chamber each night, but it was obvious now from his lack of reaction to Irgun's death that it had been yet another subterfuge. That day on Helion Prime, Zhylaw had been more intrigued by Riddick than the loss of Irgun and it occurred to Vaako now that perhaps Zhylaw had stayed his hand in killing Riddick outright because he thought Riddick might be his true means of seeing that particular prophecy come to pass. Certainly Vaako had been impressed at the ease with which Riddick had killed Zhylaw's best warrior and pretend 'soulmate', but it had taken all of the events leading up to the final fight in the Necropolis with Zhylaw for Vaako to see Riddick as his own true equal instead.

Choosing to bow down rather than battle Riddick in single combat was the only way to keep both of them alive until he figured out those strange feelings flooding through him. He had acted cautious around Riddick ever since, wanting to be certain that Riddick was the one; not willing to reveal these alien feelings to the other man until Riddick had become one of them by accepting Necroism and purification.

He had seen how troubled Riddick was, caught between two worlds - Furyan and Necromonger - so ordering a ship to take Riddick to Furya was supposed to lay to rest the ghosts of his heritage, of his past, so Riddick could move forward as the Lord Marshal. If Vaako had not needed to remain with the fleet so he could hold everything together in Riddick's absence, then he would have gone with him willingly. Instead he had trusted Krone, his best commander and a loyal Necromonger, but Krone had returned to the fleet without Riddick.

Consumed by a powerful rage, his first instinct had been to kill Krone, but he had stayed his hand, accepting that the Gods had decreed it Riddick's due time by collapsing the rock beneath his feet. He knew now that his rage had been driven by grief, from months of standing by while others shared Riddick's bed and body, from months of lessons and discussions, of guarded looks and the knowledge that he was slowly winning Riddick over to the Necromonger cause. It was driven by the knowledge of what could have come to pass between them, of a prophecy that lay in tatters upon Vaako's heart as he dealt with the fallout within the fleet from losing two Lord Marshals in quick succession.

"I must take my own counsel. I must commit those memories to the past and move on."

He had spent the past year trying to unify the fleet under his command, pushing forward with the campaign in the hope that they would all see UnderVerse sooner. It had taken until three months earlier for the Necromongers to proclaim him as their new Lord Marshal.

His ship settled on the first of the many worlds lying beyond the Threshold and he stepped out into the breathable atmosphere. Perhaps Riddick would be waiting here for him. He hoped so, for the thought of never laying eyes upon Riddick again was too terrible to contemplate.

He fell to one knee in shock as apparitions solidified from the mists and approached him.

"Jensal," he whispered as one apparition knelt before him, and Vaako reached out to clasp the arm of his older brother, finding it solid beneath his touch. Jensal looked no different now than on that day many years ago when he chose death in due time to conversion. He allowed his brother to draw him back to his feet. His father stood behind Jensal, and his mother, who smiled at him before wrapping her small arms around him, holding him close.

"My little boy. My Vaako," she whispered sweetly.

Over the long years their images had started to fade from his memory, but now they were strong and vibrant once more, and waiting for him here in due time. He looked beyond them, seeing many others that Vaako had known or sent to timely death, including the formidable Furyan warrior from his youth... but not the man he truly sought. Not Riddick. Yet if Krone had spoken the truth of Riddick's death then Riddick should have been here waiting for him.

"Riddick?" he asked of his brother.

"He is here and he is not."

Vaako frowned. "I do not understand."

"You will, my brother."

The loss of Riddick with no clear path of succession had caused a year of in-fighting between various factions, but Krone had remained loyal to him. He had fought battles as Vaako's champion, proclaiming to all that Vaako was a worthy successor. Vaako had also fought off several assassination attempts alone, including an attempt by his own wife, who had aligned herself to Scalp Taker.

Vaako still recalled the soldiers circling in silence as she stepped away from him with a malicious gleam in her dark eyes, having led him into this attack. Scalp Taker stepped into the circle, making his challenge for leadership. The wicked curve of Scalp Taker's skinning knife had glinted in the lights cast around the Necropolis as they circled each other.

On that day, his treacherous wife had persuaded him not to wear his armor or carry his usual weapons, but Vaako had taken to carrying around Riddick's ceremonial knife, reforged after the snapped off blade was removed from Zhylaw's skull. It's blade was sharp and he compensated for the slight imbalance of the weapon with ease as each of them parried and thrust, trying to use the additional agility and speed from the lack of body armor to his advantage, but Scalp Taker was fast and deadly even while wearing armor. The razor sharp blade sliced across Vaako's chest, parting the thick material of his clothing as if the cloth was made of air, and slicing into the skin beneath, too sharp for him to feel immediate pain.

The ceremonial dagger's jagged edges caught Scalp Taker's smooth knife as Scalp Taker tried to press a momentary advantage. It was enough to bring them in close enough for Vaako to pull a small triangular blade from the inner cuff of his right sleeve and slice it across one side of Scalp Taker's throat. Scalp Taker staggered back, one hand rising to press against the severed artery and Vaako went in for the kill, burying Riddick's knife deep in the vulnerable spot beneath the arm pit, puncturing a lung.

As Scalp Taker lay dying at his feet, Vaako knew he could simply turn and walk away. Instead, he knelt down and cradled Scalp Taker's head on his knees, looking into his eyes and nodding to honor him as a warrior before pushing his knife up through the soft tissue under the chin and into Scalp Taker's brain, giving him a quick and honorable death.

He had not offered his traitorous wife the same honor in death. She did not deserve to see UnderVerse.

The fighting had come to an end once he was proclaimed Lord Marshal, and he had named Krone his successor to honor him for his loyalty to both him and the Campaign, giving him the rank of Purifier. This allowed Krone the honor of looking into UnderVerse, but not in crossing the Threshold, so the approaching Necromonger ship took Vaako by surprise.

The small ship landed and the hatch opened.

A figure appeared at the top of the ramp, and frozen in shock, Vaako could only watch in stunned silence as a familiar man stalked towards him with all the grace of a predator, until finally he breathed a single name.

"Riddick."

_Riddick:_

Commander Freyan took him to the ship that Krone had prepared for his own journey into UnderVerse, and as Freyan had shown loyalty to Krone rather than to Vaako, Riddick needed him on his side for now.

"Way I see it, this can go one of two ways. Think of me like a cockroach."

Freyan had to realize that it was unwise to write him off for dead too soon, especially as Riddick had proved his resilience to the Necromongers not once but twice now. Yet with Krone dead, Freyan could betray him the moment he took off in the small ship, in the hope of gaining favor with Vaako, or Freyan could wait and transfer his loyalty to whoever returned to claim the throne of the Lord Marshal.

He trusted in Freyan not to gamble against him coming back from UnderVerse - and risk meeting an untimely death at his hand should he betray Riddick's trust. However, that all hinged on Freyan not being stupid.

"You're not going to do anything stupid, are you, Freyan?" He smiled at the man, menacingly.

"No, my Lord Mar... Riddick."

The view from Krone's large portal seemed bland compared to the amazing sight of the Threshold up close. He could feel the tidal forces from two universes clashing, rocking the small ship, and he held firm to the controls to keep a steady course. Ahead of him, the Guardian's ship blocked his way and Riddick knew that this was the moment when he would learn if his trust in Freyan had paid off. If Freyan had betrayed him then the Guardian would fire upon his ship. At this distance, he could still outmaneuver the Guardian's ship and escape, but with every passing minute the opportunity to make that escape shrank exponentially.

He was now close enough to make out the large shape of the Guardian standing behind the controls of his ship, and in another moment the Guardian would realize that he was not Krone. Riddick tensed as the final seconds counted down, holding a true course as any deviation would alert the Guardian to his subterfuge. He sighed in relief when the Guardian's ship banked away, taking up a new post some distance from him, and allowing him to pass.

With all his attention fixed firmly on the Guardian, he had blocked out the beauty of the turbulent space around him. Now it was an ever changing swirl of colors enveloping his ship, and he could hear the increasing static on the communications channel as he guided the ship closer to the tear in space. The shaking increased, becoming violent, and he could hear the metal of the hull groaning.

"Hold together," he commanded the ship softly, patting the control panel.

The battering stopped abruptly as soon as he was across the Threshold, and the navigation computer locked onto the signal of another Necromonger ship just a short distance ahead of him on the first planet with a breathable atmosphere. Riddick set course for that world and just a short while later he was setting down beside Vaako's ship.

In those first weeks on the world he had called Not-Furya, only his fury at Vaako's betrayal had driven him onwards when any sane man might have laid down to die. The pain of broken bones had left him weak and vulnerable, and only his luck in finding a safe bolt hole to hide in at a long abandoned temple had given him a chance to heal the injuries sustained during the fall and rebuild his strength. That same anger and desire for revenge had pushed him to gradually acclimatizing to the deadly paralyzing agent in the amphibious monster's sting, and it had fueled his long journey across Not-Furya once he had slain the creature guarding the only path to more hospitable lands.

It took months on foot to cross the vast plain but at least he'd had company on the journey, and the man who had slain his loyal companion had paid for that death with his head in a box. Unlike his spineless son, Boss Johns had not abandoned him to his fate to save his own worthless hide, keeping his side of the bargain they had made.

One ship each.

After spending a year surviving on that hellhole, Riddick wanted revenge on those who had left him for dead on that hostile world. All he could think of was heading back to the Necromonger fleet to confront the traitorous and cowardly Vaako, who had sent Krone to do his dirty work. He would make Vaako pay for his betrayal.

Despite her offer, all pretty-like, he hadn't slept with Dahl. They both knew it was just a game they had played to bait the other, and once he had got off Not-Furya, his interest in her faded away completely - and anyway, Dahl had no interest in any man's cock. Not even his.

What he hadn't expected to learn from Krone was that Vaako, the main focus of his rage for the past year, was innocent of ordering his death. An honorable man, Krone had called Vaako. Krone had admitted to acting on his own, spouting the usual religious rhetoric to justify his betrayal of not just Riddick but of Vaako too. The Necromongers had no funeral rites, believing the physical body of the deceased was just an empty shell, so Vaako would not have expected Krone to bring back his body. Krone's word of Riddick's death would be enough, and Krone had given Vaako no cause to question his word.

Karma.

For hadn't Vaako done the same? Writing him off as dead on Crematoria, and reporting that mistake back to his Lord Marshal, Zhylaw? Though Vaako would have been right - if the Purifier hadn't dragged him into the hangar bay before the deadly rays of the rising sun had incinerated him. Maybe he should mention that little fact to Vaako one of these days.

The moment he saw Vaako, Riddick understood why his anger had burned so hot.

His eyes cataloged the changes in Vaako; the new, small scar on his cheek, the deeper bruising around his eyes that was more prominent on an even paler face. Vaako looked more gaunt than Riddick remembered, as if the past year had been more unkind to Vaako than Not-Furya to him, and yet he still looked beautiful to Riddick. More beautiful than his exotic snake of a wife, and recalling the staleness of her scent on-board the Basilica, he wondered if she'd tried to find a better candidate to replace Vaako. She was the ambitious one, and he'd overheard more than one heated argument in low, sibilant tones as she hissed her displeasure at her husband.

Freyan had moved up a rank since Riddick commanded the Necromongers, replacing Scalp Taker. Was it a coincidence?

He didn't think so.

Vaako whispered his name, breaking the spell that had Riddick stalking towards him as if ready to engage in combat. He stopped just beyond reach.

A lifetime of reading body language - the eyes especially - made him pause as he stared into Vaako's. Part of him had still expected to read fear and shock at seeing him standing before him ready to do battle, but what he saw instead was awe and disbelief - and something else that he had never expected to see in any Necromonger's eyes - joy at seeing him alive and whole.

Except he had felt a change within him from the moment he crossed the Threshold. His body was tingling all the way down to his DNA. He could feel part of him dying while another part was reborn, and he resisted the temptation to wriggle his fingers and stretch out his muscles. Behind Vaako stood many figures, but they seemed insubstantial - like ghosts. Another ghost stepped forward and the vision caught at his breath.

Jack. Kyra.

She looked... content. At peace as she glided towards him, reminding him of her in her tattered acolyte robes in the Necropolis that final day, except this time she was smiling softly as she gazed across at him.

"So how do I get eyes like that?" she asked, repeating a question she had asked as a child on a pitch black world filled with monsters, and this time he answered truthfully.

"You don't. You get born with them."

It was the reason why he knew the planet Krone had landed them on was not Furya. The rotation of that planet would give night and day, but the Furya of his birth was a world of twilight, of darkness... or at least part of it was. His shined eyes were an evolutionary advantage, used to pierce the darkness of his homeland, allowing him to see into the deep shadows. An advantage in slam too, where providing sufficient lighting to all areas was an overhead that the prison owners either could not or would not cover. These eyes had saved him on that pitch black world too, allowing him to see the monsters lying in wait for them.

Her smile brightened and she nodded before turning away.

"Kyra?"

Glancing back over her shoulder she smiled again. "I was always with you. I _will_ always be with you."

Her specter faded and Riddick realized he had taken several more steps forward and now stood within a few feet of Vaako. Vaako had not moved at all. His eyes were tracing Riddick's face and body as if cataloging him in turn. The dark eyes lingered on his leg, as if he could see right through clothing and skin to the healing bone beneath. Despite his strict regime of _personal_ physical therapy, Riddick knew it would always be a weakness that would slow him down, aching in the dampness that came with the rains on Not-Furya. Yet the dull ache that had been his constant companion for so long seemed to be fading now.

"It's healing. I can see it." Vaako finally looked up, eyes grave in a pale face. "Krone told me you were dead. That he had seen your broken body at the bottom of a ravine after the ledge gave way beneath your feet."

"Did he happen to mention how that ledge came to give way?" Riddick saw Vaako frown. "Thought not."

"I will interrogate him on our return to the fleet."

"We've already had a conversation. He won't be adding to it in this life... or the next." Riddick stepped forward, looking at Vaako intently. "I trusted you, Vaako. Was I wrong?"

Vaako shook his head. "No."

Riddick gave a noncommittal hum. "So how are we going to do this? Can't have two Lord Marshals." Riddick smiled, tilting his head. "Not sure I still want the job anyway." He glanced around. "Maybe I'll stay here. A whole new universe with no mercs on my tail."

"No."

Riddick looked at Vaako in surprise at the sharp reply, the quick rise and fall of his eyebrows indicating for Vaako to continue.

"There is another prophecy. Two warriors. Equals. Sharing the duties of Lord Marshal. Together they would bring the end of days."

"The end of days. I like the sound of that. Whole universe has been circling the drain for too long."

"Many believed Zhylaw would bring the Campaign to a successful end. His untimely death caused great consternation among the elite, and my acknowledgment of you as his successor caused an even greater rift."

"Noticed a few faces missing. Toal, Scalp Taker... Your wife."

"I... had a few problems after Krone came back without you," Vaako replied with a wry twist of his lips.

Riddick had a feeling that was an understatement. He settled down on a rock and pointed to one close by, silently ordering Vaako to sit and join him.

"Tell me."

_Vaako:_

Riddick had fascinated Vaako from the moment he first saw him on Helion Prime. Many of the elite thought it a befitting punishment for Vaako to spend hour upon hour in Riddick's presence, trying to _educate_ their new Lord Marshal in the ways of Necroism. They heard the frustration in Vaako's voice when Riddick refused to accept all of his teachings. They sneered at Vaako behind their hands as Riddick deflected any attempts he made to persuade their Lord Marshal to accept purification and convert. They never realized that the frustration came from Vaako's seemingly unrequited desire for the other man, wanting Riddick to feel like he belonged with the Necromongers so that he might stop looking for a means to escape from them. Vaako had wanted Riddick to stop taking ambitious 'whores' to his bed, reminded of how he had become trapped into an unsuitable marriage that could be broken only by death.

He had wanted Riddick to see him as more than just his First Among Commanders, more than just an unwanted teacher of Necromonger history and politics.

As he sat down on a nearby rock, the past year with all its treachery and assassinations came flooding back, along with the grief that he had held under tight control since the moment of Krone's return. He could still recall that day, confused when Krone strode into the Necropolis alone with his head held high and expression tight on his self-mutilated face.

"When Krone returned alone, he fell to his knees before me. He had failed to protect his Lord Marshal as commanded, and he expected death before his due time as fitting punishment."

Vaako fell silent, lost in the memory. The shock of losing Riddick had reverberated around the Necropolis, even from those who had called Riddick an abomination and had wanted him gone. It had taken all of his control to mask any visible sign of his personal loss, to stand firm and seem dispassionate at the unexpected news even though he was raging inside. He recalled demanding a full account from Krone but barely hearing his words, too numbed by the grief and anger threatening to overwhelm him, so unaware until now that those words were mostly fabrication on Krone's part.

Lies. Betrayed by his most loyal commander; a man he had entrusted with Riddick's life.

"He spoke of landing on a ledge in the narrow band of twilight that split Furya into two worlds, one of light and one of darkness. All had followed you from the ship, standing close to guard you as you looked across that dead world into the dark side of Furya." Vaako huffed in disdain at his gullibility. "He offered an explanation, that the vibration from the landing had made the ledge unstable, and that it had collapsed suddenly, taking you and three of his most loyal guards with you. Krone said he had managed to throw himself to safety, but he had seen you fall. He spoke of using heat sensors from the ship to locate all four bodies before the cold of the night side stripped away any remaining warmth from the dead." Vaako drew in a hard breath, exhaling softly. "He showed me the thermal images quickly cooling in death."

"Band of twilight. Sounds romantic," Riddick almost sneered, but the curve of his lips proved he was also amused. "Knew the moment I stepped out under a fierce sun and looked down across a world destroyed by one of those Conquest icons that it was not Furya. Killed all three of those guards - loyal only to Krone. Would have killed Krone too except he blasted along a fault line, and the whole ledge dropped down the side of the cliff. Me with it."

Vaako felt his jaw twitch in anger. Krone had told lies wrapped around half-truths, so even if Vaako could have afforded the luxury of leaving the fleet to verify Krone's story personally, he suspected he would have been taken to the real Furya and a scene set up purely to fool him. Krone was fanatical in his beliefs, and a proven warrior, but many underestimated his intelligence - including Vaako, it seemed.

"I had no reason to doubt his word. I admired his courage in returning alone to face the consequences, and I let him live so he could redeem himself and find death in due time."

"Kind heart," Riddick murmured with a wry twist of lips, and Vaako pondered on the derogatory meaning of those words. "He played you for a fool, Vaako. He set himself up as your successor, and waited until you had crossed the Threshold before ordering this ship made ready to follow. He had paid off the Guardian to let him pass, and he had another story all made up and ready to play out. One where you commit ritualistic suicide this side of the Threshold, leaving him as Lord Marshal".

Vaako nodded because it made sense. If Krone had admitted to killing Riddick then the Necromonger throne would be his by their own laws - You keep what you kill. Except any man could challenge, and Vaako would have wanted revenge, and he would have slain Krone.

Krone knew this because, stupidly, Vaako had confided in him once, talking of the Elemental's prophecy of two warriors and how he believed that he and Riddick were those two equals who would bring the end of days. Dame Vaako had her spies - or perhaps Krone had betrayed his confidence to her - but somehow she had learned of his plans to cast her off in favor of joining with Riddick. In Necromonger society, marriage was until death or UnderVerse Come, so she must have known he intended to kill her in favor of Riddick.

Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned, was a saying he had learned over the years, and in her fury she had hatched a plot with Scalp Taker. Both had paid for their failed attempt on his life.

He was a fool. A fool for believing he was destined for greatness. A fool for believing he would be standing beside the last of the Lord Marshals as his equal when the fleet finally turned to face UnderVerse, and crossed the Threshold, having extinguished all human life from this 'verse. He had allowed his arrogance and vanity to blind him.

"So this is UnderVerse," Riddick stated.

Vaako glanced around at the magnificence surrounding them before his eyes fell back on Riddick, seeing a preternatural glow around the man, making him even more beautiful in Vaako's eyes.

"Don't understand why the whole fleet can't just sail through. Right now."

"Only the dead may enter UnderVerse."

"Wasn't dead when I crossed the Threshold."

Vaako nodded. "No, but we cannot stay. We do not belong here yet, and must leave soon."

Riddick gave him a sly look. "I thought Covu strode into UnderVerse and was never seen again."

Vaako bristled. "Covu was the first of the Holy Half-Dead. There was some debate that he killed his physical body at the Threshold, and his astral being traveled into UnderVerse."

"Convenient."

The _ghosts_ still hovered in the distance, watching and waiting, but Vaako could feel the life within him at odds with this 'verse, slowly tearing him apart. He knew from the way Riddick rolled his shoulder with unease that he must be feeling its affects too. He turned to the apparition of his brother, who still hovered near.

"What happens now?"

"Truth."

Suddenly, the universe opened up before them, and Vaako took a moment to wonder if Riddick was seeing the same beauty and peace as a vision of hundreds of worlds teeming with life revolved around them. He saw the faces of those he had sent ahead in due time - men, women and children - reunited with loved ones, filled with contentment.

He saw the past and present, and the future of their own 'verse.

Despite all of Covu's teachings, it was only now that he truly understood that his universe was dying, that it was reaching entropy, and this 'verse - UnderVerse - was created from it, feeding off it. All those living, sentient beings who did not meet death in due time would simply cease to exist when the old universe winked out of existence, and that time was coming soon, within years rather than centuries.

So little time remained.

He looked to Riddick, seeing the same terrifying knowledge reflected in his silvered eyes.

"Tell me more about this prophecy," Riddick demanded.

_Riddick:_

Riddick had never cared much about people. As long as they didn't mess with him then he left them alone. He didn't even care much about the millions slaughtered by the Necromongers. Not his problem - until he became Lord Marshal. He'd spared Helion Prime because of one man - the Imam - but he had seen the Imam, his wife, and the little girl, Ziza, playing happy families in this 'verse so he figured the fleet had gone back to finish the job after Krone had left him for dead on Not-Furya.

Happy families. Something he had never known.

The ghosts had shown him New-Furya, and he gained his answer for how Vaako could have witnessed Furya brought to annihilation when they were of similar age. It made him feel proud that it had taken two assaults on his homeworld to finish the job, but he felt confused too. He had felt the rage of every Furyan burning in his chest. He had felt the injustice saturating him to his DNA, as if his whole existence was bound into taking revenge on the ones who had destroyed his people. Yet he could see many Furyans here, living contented lives in UnderVerse.

While he watched, the female warrior from his vision stepped out from among the _ghosts_ of the past.

"Not all souls cross the Threshold. Only those who die in due time."

"Yeah, now that's what I don't get. Due time. The baby cut from its mother's womb and strangled with its own birth cord. Is that due time when it never lived? The warrior who fights so desperately to live but dies by another's hand?" He cocked his head to one side. "Is that due time?"

The greatest warriors - and Necromongers - did not fear death but neither did they crave it. They wanted to live to fight again. He was Furyan, and if he was as typical of his warrior heritage as Vaako had implied, then would his death on Not-Furya have been timely, or not? He had fought every step of the way to survive so he could take his revenge. Was this the Furyan way, and did this determination to fight and to live condemn most of his people to untimely death? Was this why they were filled with such rage?

She smiled softly, as if reading his mind. 

"We were of the Carthodox, converted to Necroism by Kyrll in the Fifth Regime. We were duty bound to remain alive until all human life was cleansed from the universe, to bring as many to death in due time so that they might pass into UnderVerse and be reborn. Yet instead of raising the last generation to take the Campaign to the end of days, Zhylaw was swayed by the words of an Elemental. Out of fear of the unknown, and to spare the lives of her race, this Elemental twisted a prophecy of Zhylaw's death at the hands of a Furyan warrior.

She knew of his ambitions; knew of his fear of meeting an untimely death, so she manipulated him to mount an attack on Furya against Kryll's knowledge. Zhylaw slaughtered every Furyan man, woman and child he could find." Her lips tightened. "In doing so, he and the Elementals condemned many worlds to fall forever rather than find death in due time. Millions will never meet death in due time and see UnderVerse."

She stepped forward, placing her hand upon his chest exactly where it had burned before; her eyes cut to Vaako, who had stood slowly and was gazing in silence around him as if mesmerized by all he was being shown. He did not seem to see the woman standing before Riddick.

"Zhylaw's death at the hands of a Furyan was prophecy, but it was for him to choose whether this death would come in due time... or not. Together you defeated him, but his own actions condemned him to untimely death. He will not see UnderVerse. The rage of Furya is now one of sorrow for the lost millions." Her image began to fade. "Now you must return to your 'verse to save as many as you can, and fulfill your destiny to see the end of days... together."

She disappeared along with all the images and ghosts, leaving him surrounded only by the wondrous beauty of UnderVerse. Vaako looked as if he had received his own revelation, his dark eyes haunted as he finally turned to face Riddick.

"Tell me more about this warrior prophecy," Riddick demanded as he stalked towards Vaako.

"Two warriors bound together, one of them Furyan and the last of the Lord Marshals. They would see the end of days." Vaako stepped closer, eyes staring hard and earnest into Riddick's. "This is why you must reclaim the position of-."

Riddick began to laugh, a harsh braying sound that caused Vaako to pause and look at him in puzzlement. Eventually he stopped laughing, moving closer until he could press his hand against Vaako's chest exactly where the priestess warrior had laid her hand on him.

"Semantics," he murmured in a gravelly tone. "Old Windy got it wrong," he stated, referring to the Elemental, Aereon, who had given Zhylaw the twisted, self-fulfilling prophecy.

Riddick leaned in and inhaled Vaako's scent, recalling how it had always intoxicated him from the moment he had caught it on Dame Vaako's skin, tantalizing beneath the heavy musk of her cloying perfume. He had taken so many concubines to his bed in the hope of banishing that scent when all he wanted was to feel Vaako lying beneath him. He wanted to taste his alabaster skin and soft lips, wanted to see if his tight control of pain enhanced the pleasure of touch, as with those concubines Riddick had taken to his bed.

"She bought into Zhylaw's delusion that he would be the last of the Lord Marshals, and getting him to kill all Furyans would prevent the real prophecy from coming true."

Vaako's eyes widened. "She hadn't calculated the end of days was drawing near. She thought to buy the Elementals more time in the old 'verse," Vaako added, his eyes closing and head tilting to give Riddick greater access as Riddick began to nuzzle his vulnerable throat.

" _You_ are the last of the Lord Marshals, Vaako." He leaned in closer, "And I am Furyan," he whispered against the shell of Vaako's ear before drawing back. He looked hard into Vaako's eyes and waited until he saw realization dawning before he leaned back in and pressed his lips to Vaako's.

_Vaako:_

After months of controversy and assassination attempts, ending with the death of Scalp Taker by his hand, the council had decreed Vaako as the new Lord Marshal, bringing an end to the Seventh Regime of Riddick the Misbeliever. Vaako's first order was to obey the cry that arose in the Necropolis.

"THRESHOLD! TAKE US TO THE THRESHOLD!"

Following the path of hidden navigation beacons erected by Oltovm the Builder in the Second Regime, so the Necromongers would never lose the way back to the Threshold, he stopped only twice along the journey. Once to finish destroying the Helion System, and a second time to cleanse all human life from within the prison built deep beneath the inhospitable surface of Crematoria.

He gained many converts from among the prisoners.

Krone's loyalty had earned him redemption and Vaako's trust, and his religious zeal had earned him the right of succession to Lord Marshal, for Vaako did not believe he would find another in his lifetime who could surpass his love for Riddick. He had already decided that the Elemental's prophecy of a Warrior Bond would not be fulfilled in the Eighth Regime of Vaako the Supplicant, a name earned from when he went down on bended knee before Riddick.

He was wrong... and yet he was also right.

The feel of Riddick's lips against his shook him to the core of his being and he could not resist the temptation of having Riddick's strong, muscled body in his arms. He kissed him deeply but drew back before his senses were completely overwhelmed.

"We must leave now."

His voice shook with unquenched desire but he was resolute. He could feel the unnatural pull of UnderVerse on his Half-Dead body, aware that if he and Riddick did not leave UnderVerse soon then this place would destroy them before they could fulfill their destiny.

"Might be better to take my ship in case Krone set up the wrong kind of welcome home party," Riddick stated silkily, and though his words were steady, his face was flushed with arousal.

Within minutes Vaako was piloting the ship back across the Threshold and heading towards the Basilica ship, almost surprised when Riddick allowed him without a fight. The Guardian did not approach or challenge Krone's ship even though Vaako had given orders that only he would be allowed to see beyond the Threshold. Although he already suspected collusion between Krone and the Guardian, this merely confirmed that the Guardian could no longer be trusted with this most sacred duty.

"Our first order will be to appoint a new Guardian to protect the Threshold, and to send the current Guardian to untimely death," Vaako stated with his anger barely held in check.

"Sounds about right to me."

As the Basilica ship loomed ahead of them, Vaako thought of the reception waiting for them in the Necropolis, wondering how many of the Necromonger elite would be expecting to see Krone return instead of him. Vaako could not resist smiling as he thought of how they would react when he strode into the Necropolis to sit upon the Lord Marshal's throne, with Riddick beside him.

"Something you want to share?" Riddick asked as he draped himself over Vaako. His warm breath tingled over Vaako's neck, making him shiver.

"I was wondering what would surprise them most. My entrance instead of Krone's, or your presence by my side."

"Got to love surprises," Riddick murmured as he brushed his nose against Vaako's cheek.

They strode into the Necropolis side by side as Holy Half-Dead, with their astral manifestation ghosting with every step they took. The Necromongers fell to their knees as they passed, bowing their heads in obeisance as Vaako sat down on the throne with Riddick standing by his right hand. He felt Riddick place a hand on his shoulder.

The Necropolis was silent as Vaako stood slowly. Heads began to rise as he told those present what he and Riddick had seen in UnderVerse. He could feel the buzz of excitement rippling through the fleet as his words renewed their determination to continue the Campaign to cleanse all human life from this 'verse.

A victory cry rose from those closest to the front, swiftly taken up by others until the roar was echoing off the vast walls and ringing through the corridors, spiraling out to encompass the whole fleet. Riddick leaned in close and spoke into his ear.

"Always said you'd make a better Lord Marshal than me."

_Riddick:_

Hours later, with the fleet now heading towards the next densely populated system, Riddick pushed Vaako up against the thick doors that separated the Lord Marshal's chambers from the rest of the ship. It was a familiar room, one he had once called his own, but for the first time he felt secure behind its doors. He kissed Vaako deeply, hands dropping to spread across the breastplate of the ridged Necromonger armor.

"This has got to go," he murmured roughly, pulling back so he could help Vaako remove the ornate, heavy armor that Vaako had worn into UnderVerse.

As each part of the armor was removed, Riddick hindered Vaako's actions by running his hands over the still clothed body beneath. He laughed at Vaako's frustration, acutely aware that he was slowly driving Vaako insane with need, but that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted Vaako to let go of the tight control he wielded over his mind and body. He wanted Vaako to rut with him like an animal - wild and furious - with biting kisses and bruising fingers.

For all the many concubines he had taken to this very bed, none had filled him with such fire. Despite their purification and pain-control rituals, he could not use all of his strength against them, but he had no such restrictions with Vaako. Finally naked, his hands tightly gripped Vaako's firm ass, fingers digging into the sweet curves, dragging them together as he devoured Vaako's mouth in brutal kisses, drawing blood as a tooth snagged on Vaako's lower lip. A hiss and a hard smack was his reward before they were falling, only to land moments later with a grunt as the air was forced from their lungs. Rolling onto their side, facing one another, strong legs twined around his own and Riddick howled in pleasure as their hard erections slid against one another sending delicious sensations rippling through all of him. Several more thrusts had Vaako keening beside him, his fingers clenched just as hard on Riddick's body he came, the wet heat of his release and the forceful press of his astral being merging into Riddick, making them one person in two bodies, triggering Riddick's release in turn.

Afterwards, Riddick lay sprawled across the huge bed, exhausted but more satisfied than he could ever recall from before. Beside him, Vaako was stretching out, sighing contentedly, and he rolled back onto his side to face Riddick. One pale hand ghosted across Riddick's chest, sending echoes of pleasure vibrating through him, and he hummed low in satisfaction before drawing Vaako down to kiss him with a gentleness that neither had displayed to the other before.

Breaking the kiss, Vaako laid his head down on Riddick's chest and closed his eyes, and Riddick listened as Vaako's breathing quickly eased into sleep. Feeling the weight of a lifetime of sleepless nights weighing heavy upon him, he closed his own eyes. For the first time he could recall in his life, the animal side of him was at peace, and he slept deeply.

**Four Years Later:**

In the final days of the Eighth Regime, Lord Marshal Vaako the Supplicant, and his Holy Half-Dead consort, Lord Riddick the Misbeliever, ordered the last of the Necromonger fleet to turn and face the Threshold. Behind them they knew they would be leaving many worlds uncleansed of human life; humans who might have found death in due time and been reborn into UnderVerse if not for the twisted prophecy that destroyed the Furyan Necromongers.

By agreement they did not offer a choice to convert or die to the Elementals, leaving them to follow in their own false prophecies. It seemed a fitting punishment for the loss of the Furyans.

One by one the ships imploded, sending the Necromonger warriors to death in due time, until only the Basilica ship remained.

"Set course for the Threshold," Riddick ordered, and the helmsman obeyed before committing ritualistic suicide at his post. The bodies of the Necromonger elite littered the floor of the Necropolis as they - and the rest of the ship's complement - obeyed their Lord Marshal one last time in this 'verse.

Now only Riddick and Vaako remained.

As the Threshold approached, Vaako leaned down and kissed Riddick, moaning in pleasure as he was forcibly kissed in return. He could feel the handle of the ceremonial knife gripped tight in his hand and he pulled back just enough to guide the blade between their bodies.

Holding Riddick's beautiful, silvered eyes in his own, he thrust the ceremonial blade deep into Riddick's chest even as Riddick plunged a shiv into Vaako's heart, promoting each other to Full Dead as the ship crossed the Threshold into UnderVerse.

They opened their eyes moments later with a new universe shimmering before them, before turning to fulfill another Elemental's prophecy.

The last of the Lord Marshals and his Furyan warrior consort caught one last glimmer of the old universe through the narrow aperture of the Threshold, and then a flash as it ceased to exist, condemning all remaining human life in that 'verse to untimely death.

The Threshold closed forever.

END

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**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for Tarlan's Elemental Prophecy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2154942) by [taibhrigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh)




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